Allison Tran – Independent Project

Allison Tran – Independent Project

Class of 2017

Introduction to Topic

Dementia is a large and continuously growing factor affecting older adults in the United States. It is a severe financial burden on society, extremely similar to the financial burdens of heart disease and cancer (Hurd, 2013). According to the National Center for Assisted Living, almost half of all residences are living with cardiovascular disease, and 4 in 10 residents are living with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementias (Harris-Kojetin, 2016). Assisted Living facilities are constantly associated with coordinated services to provide dental, depression screening, hospice, mental health or counseling, pharmaceutical, podiatry, nursing, and therapy care. With the rise in admitted residents to assisted living and dementia care-based senior living facilities, the overwhelming care, and attention that residents need become even more vital to their declining symptoms.

Project Description

In order to study geriatric care and the treatment of dementia patients, I shadowed at Brightview Avondell Senior and Vibrant Living Facility. Here, I worked with Mrs. Terri Hanlon and Mrs. Megan Clark in order to create a new floor plan of Brightview Avondell’s sunroom; a room which residents frequently utilize in daily activities. I worked side-by-side with Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs. Clark as we helped situate, advice, and organize daily activities and events for the patients. I worked with the residents directly and learned communicative skills to respond to their needs appropriately. By completing 8- hours of volunteer experience, I worked to combine their guidance and my experiences with the general daily activities. I then understood the difficulties of having a small sunroom, though it is the most frequently used room for their activities. I took in feedback from residents, Mrs. Hanlon, Mrs. Clark, and other employees of the facility to determine how I would change the design of the sunroom in order to suit the needs of employees and residents altogether.

Experience Description

Terri Hanlon is the Vibrant Living Director at Brightview Avondell and works with my other mentor who I work with on weekdays, Megan Clark. Megan is the Vibrant Living Assistant who trained me in normal daily activities with the residents at Brightview.

One of the first things Mrs. Hanlon corrected on my application was my word choice of “facility” to describe Brightview. As it his her job to make the residents feel as comfortable as possible, she encouraged the use of phrases such as “senior living home” to come to the mindset that Brightview is essentially their home. Our job is to simply assist them in allowing maximum comfort for living in Brightview.

For residents in Independent Living, we are to provide conveniences and services to make their lives easier, invite them to opportunities for friendships and fun through activities throughout the day, and maintain the interior and exterior maintenance and housekeeping services.

The same general ideas apply to those living under the Assisted Living title. We lend a “helping hand” to provide a full day of pastimes, meals, and activities, continue to maintain housekeeping, remain responsible for transportation, and provide help with dressing, bathing, and medication reminders. Since I am just a volunteer, however, I was not responsible for handling the dressing, bathing, nor the medication reminders as a privacy agreement. I simply engaged in conversations and activities with willing residents and care for their needs such as preferences of snack, drink, game, or movie choices.

It is important to set a positive mood for interaction to promote a respectful and inviting presence to conversations. Getting the person’s attention is necessary when there are several contributing factors that may be distracting such as a TV or radio playing. Utilizing short and simple sentences are helpful to ensure that the resident can understand easily. I experienced several occasions where residents did not hear what I asked or called them out too, so I am familiar with this complication. Proper enunciation and clarity are extremely vital when communicating with the elderly.

Patients are especially key to achieving maximum understanding and appreciation from the senior. Very simple things such as breaking down tasks, or speaking clearly, or remembering to simplify speech are things that I grew accustomed to in order to properly communicated with dementia patients, as well as those in assisted living and independent living (Logan, Caregiver). It may not be things that I do on a regular basis, however, the living conditions in an understanding of the residents are extremely different.

My experience at Brightview Avondell has trained me to be more aware of the things I say and how others may interpret my words. The professional setting of learning how to communicate with residents are very important and will help me further in my future to the life of working for others.

Innovation Description

Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs. Clark explained how this was an extremely important connection I was creating with the residents. It builds trust and helpful memory for me to remember how to accustom to different resident’s problems, and it also helps the residents remember my name and associate my assistance with a positive connotation. A lot of these connections are made through the daily group activities where we all converse and share stories. The majority of this time goes on in the sunroom.

I decided to design the new floorplan using SketchUp so that I can present my finalized ideas through screenshots of my SketchUp design. I began with a basic floor plan to mimic the structures of the sunroom and the balcony. I wanted to incorporate an adjustable wall TV in the corner of the room instead of using a large bulky push-cart that Brightview Avondell has now. The adjustable part will connect the actual TV to a moveable handle so that the TV will be able to pivot and fold to adjust to the seating of residents when watching the TV. Once turned and pushed against the wall, the TV will be able to be moved away and not take up any floor space since it will just be moved against the wall. With this unique operation, there will be no need for a large cart to take up space in the room, and residents and staff members are able to easily maneuver the TV screen to situate the appropriate activity setting. The DVD box will simply be placed under the TV on a small shelf against the corner of the sunroom to also minimize space usage on the ground level. The positions of the TV and DVD are easily accessible so it can be used by anyone.

A major complaint which I am familiar with from my experience here at Avondell is the situational setup of the sunroom. Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs, Clark always mention how setting up for all activities, even simple ones like playing cards will require a bit of setup time. I decided to minimize the room that tables, chairs, and extra materials in the room will take up in order to maximize the size of the full sunroom. The second innovative idea I decided to incorporate to the new remodeling of Brightview Avondell’s sunroom would be a fold down table against the wall. The common idea of attaching large and bulky items and place them to attach to the wall is a great way to minimize space and provide a more efficient use of the sunroom space. Instead of having to haul a large and heavy table to and from the sunroom every time there is an event, it would be more efficient to incorporate a fold-down table. The table would be easily functional and attach to the wall by its corners. It will be pulled down slowly to prevent risks of injury while operating the table. The flat table will rotate down from the wall and stop at a 90-degree position while remaining attached to the wall. It will not require legs for the table which will optimize the seating arrangements and availability for patients to utilize the space around the table.

Mrs. Clark sat with me to collaborate as I explained my innovation ideas and create the parts, structures, and designs of the sunroom and balcony. She helped me finalize the little details of picking the proper chairs, plants, and tables to replicate the real ones that are used in Brightview Avondell.

We decided to find and keep a similar chair model that would closely replicate the actual ones because they are cushioned to provide comfort for residents and staff members to utilize for activities. They are also stackable so that storing them and moving the chairs will not be a difficult task. Initially, I intended on creating a fold-up bench that would work in a way that is similar to the fold-down table. It would be positioned and attached to the wall for easy storage, and when it is in need of usage, Me or other staff members would simply let the bench rotate down to open up to several chairs attached to the wall. This would have made the process of bringing in and moving chairs around a much faster process, however, I decided to go against that idea and instead, I incorporated the fold-down wall tables. The tables would have a greater usage to the residents and staff, whereas the fold-down benches would be only helpful to a few of the movie activities, More chairs would be needed to fill in the middle of the room anyways, so I took that idea out of my sunroom redesign plan.

The next part that I worked on in my Sketchup design was the balcony. Mrs. Clark and I actually went outside and sat on the rocking chairs on the balcony as I worked on this part of my innovation to get an idea of what I should or should not incorporate in my final design plan. I decided to definitely keep the rocking chairs in the final design because they are extremely comfy and the residents really enjoy the relaxing comfort of the chairs as they watch the view of the trees and streets from the balcony view.

Generally, the balcony itself was a pretty plain environment. Granted, there was not a lot of room to fit many things on the balcony, however, there were really only a few chairs out there to fill the space. I decided to incorporate more environmentally pleasing things to the balcony to make it feel more relaxing and welcoming. These things include potted plants, a newer and more visually pleasing railing to add in decorations, and a new wall color to match the theme aesthetically. The potted plants would invite a more home-like feel for the patients to feel more welcome and less like a facility. I had trouble with the railing alignment because when I downloaded the structure from the 3D Warehouse in SketchUp, the position angle was not in line with any of the walls. I had to free-handedly rotate the railings for each angle of the ends of the balcony in order to fit everything together. Mrs. Clark also gave me the idea of adding small tables by a few of the rocking chairs for the residents to bring out drinks or keep their items next to them as they relax in the rocking chairs.

I used coolors.co to customize the color plans of the entire sunroom as well as for the balcony. There are a lot of wooden pieces to the room and I decided on a natural tan shade as the main wall color. This shade is very similar to the actual shade of the sunroom in real life as well. The point that I am making with this redesigned floor plan is to simply adjust the materials and space usage within the sunroom. Measuring the walls a proportioning the structure of the room itself took the most amount of time as I was trying to make everything perfectly symmetrical.

Introduction to Topic

Dementia is a large and continuously growing factor affecting older adults in the United States. It is a severe financial burden on society, extremely similar to the financial burdens of heart disease and cancer (Hurd, 2013). According to the National Center for Assisted Living, almost half of all residences are living with cardiovascular disease, and 4 in 10 residents are living with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementias (Harris-Kojetin, 2016). Assisted Living facilities are constantly associated with coordinated services to provide dental, depression screening, hospice, mental health or counseling, pharmaceutical, podiatry, nursing, and therapy care. With the rise in admitted residents to assisted living and dementia care-based senior living facilities, the overwhelming care, and attention that residents need become even more vital to their declining symptoms.

Project Description

In order to study geriatric care and the treatment of dementia patients, I shadowed at Brightview Avondell Senior and Vibrant Living Facility. Here, I worked with Mrs. Terri Hanlon and Mrs. Megan Clark in order to create a new floor plan of Brightview Avondell’s sunroom; a room which residents frequently utilize in daily activities. I worked side-by-side with Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs. Clark as we helped situate, advice, and organize daily activities and events for the patients. I worked with the residents directly and learned communicative skills to respond to their needs appropriately. By completing 8- hours of volunteer experience, I worked to combine their guidance and my experiences with the general daily activities. I then understood the difficulties of having a small sunroom, though it is the most frequently used room for their activities. I took in feedback from residents, Mrs. Hanlon, Mrs. Clark, and other employees of the facility to determine how I would change the design of the sunroom in order to suit the needs of employees and residents altogether.

Experience Description

Terri Hanlon is the Vibrant Living Director at Brightview Avondell and works with my other mentor who I work with on weekdays, Megan Clark. Megan is the Vibrant Living Assistant who trained me in normal daily activities with the residents at Brightview.

One of the first things Mrs. Hanlon corrected on my application was my word choice of “facility” to describe Brightview. As it his her job to make the residents feel as comfortable as possible, she encouraged the use of phrases such as “senior living home” to come to the mindset that Brightview is essentially their home. Our job is to simply assist them in allowing maximum comfort for living in Brightview.

For residents in Independent Living, we are to provide conveniences and services to make their lives easier, invite them to opportunities for friendships and fun through activities throughout the day, and maintain the interior and exterior maintenance and housekeeping services.

The same general ideas apply to those living under the Assisted Living title. We lend a “helping hand” to provide a full day of pastimes, meals, and activities, continue to maintain housekeeping, remain responsible for transportation, and provide help with dressing, bathing, and medication reminders. Since I am just a volunteer, however, I was not responsible for handling the dressing, bathing, nor the medication reminders as a privacy agreement. I simply engaged in conversations and activities with willing residents and care for their needs such as preferences of snack, drink, game, or movie choices.

It is important to set a positive mood for interaction to promote a respectful and inviting presence to conversations. Getting the person’s attention is necessary when there are several contributing factors that may be distracting such as a TV or radio playing. Utilizing short and simple sentences are helpful to ensure that the resident can understand easily. I experienced several occasions where residents did not hear what I asked or called them out too, so I am familiar with this complication. Proper enunciation and clarity are extremely vital when communicating with the elderly.

Patients are especially key to achieving maximum understanding and appreciation from the senior. Very simple things such as breaking down tasks, or speaking clearly, or remembering to simplify speech are things that I grew accustomed to in order to properly communicated with dementia patients, as well as those in assisted living and independent living (Logan, Caregiver). It may not be things that I do on a regular basis, however, the living conditions in an understanding of the residents are extremely different.

My experience at Brightview Avondell has trained me to be more aware of the things I say and how others may interpret my words. The professional setting of learning how to communicate with residents are very important and will help me further in my future to the life of working for others.

Innovation Description

Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs. Clark explained how this was an extremely important connection I was creating with the residents. It builds trust and helpful memory for me to remember how to accustom to different resident’s problems, and it also helps the residents remember my name and associate my assistance with a positive connotation. A lot of these connections are made through the daily group activities where we all converse and share stories. The majority of this time goes on in the sunroom.

I decided to design the new floorplan using SketchUp so that I can present my finalized ideas through screenshots of my SketchUp design. I began with a basic floor plan to mimic the structures of the sunroom and the balcony. I wanted to incorporate an adjustable wall TV in the corner of the room instead of using a large bulky push-cart that Brightview Avondell has now. The adjustable part will connect the actual TV to a moveable handle so that the TV will be able to pivot and fold to adjust to the seating of residents when watching the TV. Once turned and pushed against the wall, the TV will be able to be moved away and not take up any floor space since it will just be moved against the wall. With this unique operation, there will be no need for a large cart to take up space in the room, and residents and staff members are able to easily maneuver the TV screen to situate the appropriate activity setting. The DVD box will simply be placed under the TV on a small shelf against the corner of the sunroom to also minimize space usage on the ground level. The positions of the TV and DVD are easily accessible so it can be used by anyone.

A major complaint which I am familiar with from my experience here at Avondell is the situational setup of the sunroom. Mrs. Hanlon and Mrs, Clark always mention how setting up for all activities, even simple ones like playing cards will require a bit of setup time. I decided to minimize the room that tables, chairs, and extra materials in the room will take up in order to maximize the size of the full sunroom. The second innovative idea I decided to incorporate to the new remodeling of Brightview Avondell’s sunroom would be a fold down table against the wall. The common idea of attaching large and bulky items and place them to attach to the wall is a great way to minimize space and provide a more efficient use of the sunroom space. Instead of having to haul a large and heavy table to and from the sunroom every time there is an event, it would be more efficient to incorporate a fold-down table. The table would be easily functional and attach to the wall by its corners. It will be pulled down slowly to prevent risks of injury while operating the table. The flat table will rotate down from the wall and stop at a 90-degree position while remaining attached to the wall. It will not require legs for the table which will optimize the seating arrangements and availability for patients to utilize the space around the table.

Mrs. Clark sat with me to collaborate as I explained my innovation ideas and create the parts, structures, and designs of the sunroom and balcony. She helped me finalize the little details of picking the proper chairs, plants, and tables to replicate the real ones that are used in Brightview Avondell.

We decided to find and keep a similar chair model that would closely replicate the actual ones because they are cushioned to provide comfort for residents and staff members to utilize for activities. They are also stackable so that storing them and moving the chairs will not be a difficult task. Initially, I intended on creating a fold-up bench that would work in a way that is similar to the fold-down table. It would be positioned and attached to the wall for easy storage, and when it is in need of usage, Me or other staff members would simply let the bench rotate down to open up to several chairs attached to the wall. This would have made the process of bringing in and moving chairs around a much faster process, however, I decided to go against that idea and instead, I incorporated the fold-down wall tables. The tables would have a greater usage to the residents and staff, whereas the fold-down benches would be only helpful to a few of the movie activities, More chairs would be needed to fill in the middle of the room anyways, so I took that idea out of my sunroom redesign plan.

The next part that I worked on in my Sketchup design was the balcony. Mrs. Clark and I actually went outside and sat on the rocking chairs on the balcony as I worked on this part of my innovation to get an idea of what I should or should not incorporate in my final design plan. I decided to definitely keep the rocking chairs in the final design because they are extremely comfy and the residents really enjoy the relaxing comfort of the chairs as they watch the view of the trees and streets from the balcony view.

Generally, the balcony itself was a pretty plain environment. Granted, there was not a lot of room to fit many things on the balcony, however, there were really only a few chairs out there to fill the space. I decided to incorporate more environmentally pleasing things to the balcony to make it feel more relaxing and welcoming. These things include potted plants, a newer and more visually pleasing railing to add in decorations, and a new wall color to match the theme aesthetically. The potted plants would invite a more home-like feel for the patients to feel more welcome and less like a facility. I had trouble with the railing alignment because when I downloaded the structure from the 3D Warehouse in SketchUp, the position angle was not in line with any of the walls. I had to free-handedly rotate the railings for each angle of the ends of the balcony in order to fit everything together. Mrs. Clark also gave me the idea of adding small tables by a few of the rocking chairs for the residents to bring out drinks or keep their items next to them as they relax in the rocking chairs.

I used coolors.co to customize the color plans of the entire sunroom as well as for the balcony. There are a lot of wooden pieces to the room and I decided on a natural tan shade as the main wall color. This shade is very similar to the actual shade of the sunroom in real life as well. The point that I am making with this redesigned floor plan is to simply adjust the materials and space usage within the sunroom. Measuring the walls a proportioning the structure of the room itself took the most amount of time as I was trying to make everything perfectly symmetrical.